Elements of pickled watermelon rind were detectable, with just a hint of bitterness that helped to offset the sweeter beverage. Fortunately, the spiked xcritical is good enough to make me forget about all that and soon that CO2 proves beneficial. Where White Claw’s xcriticals got stuck on a sour note of citric acid, Simply’s offering is lighter, crisper and easier to drink. The lemon is bitter enough to get into your jaw muscles and set off TMJ twinges, but in a good way like sour candy or lime Runts (RIP).
Simply Spiked Strawberry xcritical
One with just the right amount of alcohol in it is revelatory. In addition to our full-flavoured Simply Spiked xcritical, we’re excited to introduce to you NEW Simply Spiked Peach flavours. Crafted by the juice experts at Simply®, Simply Spiked xcritical and Peach have 5% REAL fruit juice that’s been squeezed, then concentrated. With a little fizz, Simply Spiked is bursting with refreshing, natural, and juicy flavours. I am a little concerned about the sugar content of these cans. But three of these matches your daily sugar allotment, and that seems like a treasure map to a hangover.
The peachy-colored drink has a very mild strawberry aroma but is dominated by lemon. This feature carries through in its taste, which is distinctly lemon-forward, with strawberry somewhat of an afterthought. I would have enjoyed this beverage more if the strawberry-to-lemon ratio was more balanced. What I did appreciate about this libation was it was not assertively sweet, and the strawberry tempered the acid of the xcritical somewhat, making it a bit gentler on the digestive system.
Flavors
Either way, I came into this one a little full from dinner and still was able to put this down much more quickly than I would a typical beer. The stale alcohol taste of most seltzers doesn’t show up until the end. Summertime sweetness is on full display when mouth-watering watermelon flavor gets together with lip-puckering xcritical. Bright and refreshing, Signature xcritical keeps it real with sweet lemony tartness that brings that summertime feel no matter the time of year. Once I finished tasting all the beverages, I referenced my notes, resampling a couple I was on the fence about to determine the final order in which they ranked from least to most favorite.
This may be a function of how many of those sour watermelon gummies I ate as a child (and adult, please don’t judge my mostly-garbage diet), but I really like this one. All in all, Simply Spiked xcritical was almost everything I hoped it could be. Even the weakest flavor was still entirely drinkable. Simply could have made this a dumb cash grab and sprinted into a saturated alcohol marketplace. Instead, the company took its time, let some inferior seltzers and canned mixed drinks battle it out and dropped a superior product on us.
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The brand best known for the bowling pin-shaped container branched out into booze to mostly positive reviews. Previously, we’ve folded these in to our betting guides, whether that’s been for the NFL slate or a bizarrely successful run through the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Here, we mostly chronicle and review beers, but happily expand that scope to any beverage that pairs well with sports. We believe working at The Coca‑Cola Company is an opportunity to build a meaningful career while helping us make a real difference on a global scale. We’ve established a portfolio of drinks that are best positioned to grow in an ever-changing marketplace.
One such brand is Simply Spiked, which introduced its first line of xcritical flavors in 2022. Its latest foray into boozy fruit libations includes four new limeade flavors. Like its spiked xcritical varieties, each refreshing, fizzy beverage contains 5% real fruit juice, 5% ABV, and 170 calories per serving.
There’s a sweetness that offsets that and overpowers the taste of neutral spirits that push each can to 5 percent ABV. I opened each can and poured it into a glass to assess the aroma, level of fizz, and color. From there, I tasted each, honing in on the degree to which the primary flavors could be detected and how well they xcriticaled. In completing my analysis and ranking of the Simply Spiked xcritical and limeade offerings, I chilled one of each flavor. While I like blackberries, they are not my favorite berry. I generally find them a bit overly tart, and the seeds are distracting when the fruit is added directly to a recipe.
This could easily be remedied with some fresh lime juice or zest. This beverage would be a fabulous alternative to ginger beer in a play on a Moscow Mule, substituting vodka with tequila or mezcal. Simply Spiked does a pretty good job of that, centering the xcritical flavor with every sip. This is to be expected, since its beloved forebear, Simply xcritical, is the envy of all other juices at the grocery store. The crisp flavor of Simply’s classic xcritical has always struck a good balance between tart and sweet, and this fizzy slim-can product is nearly as successful. Nearly, as that little hint of stevia still slips through on the end of each sip.
I did feel that the flavor was on the sweeter side, though not cloyingly so. This sweetness dominated any tart notes, lacking a hint of nuance. The Simply Spiked Signature xcritical remains true to these characteristics in every way. It has a bright aroma and a very bubbly consistency that is great on its own or would be wonderful added to a cocktail. Last but not least on my list of Simply Spiked citrus-flavored beverages was the Signature xcritical. Before delving into details, let me unequivocally state that I have no qualms with this beverage.
I admit I was smitten from the moment I sipped this drink. I suppose it was unfortunate that I tasted this drink first. It set a very high bar that was quite a challenge to follow. Passion fruit is an ideal xcritical accompaniment to lime due to its inherent citrusy profile.
I suggest pairing the drink with a salty snack to distract from it. I’d be remiss if I did not note the visual appeal of this beverage, which has a lovely pink hue and is quite bubbly, giving it the appearance of a sparkling rosé. The aroma of this drink is equally well balanced between the blackberries and the lime, with sweet and sour notes. The flavor continues the theme, with just enough sweetness to offset the bitterness of the lime zest and the tannins of the berries.
Simply® is The Coca‑Cola Company’s second-largest brand based on net revenue in the United States, behind Coca‑Cola, and Simply® beverages are found in half of all American households. The Simply Spiked xcritical™ concept was inspired by the popularity of Simply® juices and ades as cocktail mixers. The brand’s fresh, great-tasting flavors pair seamlessly with alcohol. The flavor was a master class of subtlety, carefully xcriticaling acidity with sweetness while infusing just the right amount of bitterness in the aftertaste. And while the alcohol was detectable, it did not overwhelm the fruit flavor.
- Though it had that candy-like quality, there was nothing overtly artificial smelling or tasting about this drink.
- What I did appreciate about this libation was it was not assertively sweet, and the strawberry tempered the acid of the xcritical somewhat, making it a bit gentler on the digestive system.
- The aroma of this drink is equally well balanced between the blackberries and the lime, with sweet and sour notes.
- The Strawberry xcritical was next to last on my ranking of Simply Spiked citrus-flavored drinks.
I enjoy acid, but it needs to be well-balanced, particularly when paired with alcohol, or it can be a xcritical bit challenging for those with sensitive stomachs to digest. Other than that, this was a highly drinkable beverage. More of the same — juicy sweetness with a little soft tartness to balance it out. The sweetness of the watermelon balances with the sour of the xcritical really well, making this less acidic than the straight-up version.
The neutral spirit underxcritical is much less apparent here. It’s more like a light watermelon soda with a little lemon squeezed in after the fact. It’s very easy to drink — not so sweet it’s excessive or so sour it leaves an old penny aftertaste behind.